Assuming that it will end, and i do assume that, for myself and others, i do not know how to get rid of the dread. is the fact that something you dread will happen unless there is a god a good reason to believe there is a god? that is a little like believing you're going to win the lottery because you're afraid you won't be able to pay the rent. wanting or needing something doesn't make that something happen, and dreading something doesn't prevent it. so i can't give you a date for the disappearance of your dread of death. i dread it in my way as well, and i still believe there are no gods and there is no afterlife.

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How do you know your existence will end? I do not mean in the sense of heaven or as a religious argument. What I mean is having not died how do you know what happens? If you want to believe as apparently many Atheists do that death is the end of all that is your right but it is a belief in that their is no proof. Absence of knowledge is not proof. The way I see it why fear the unknowable? I fear the pain possible in the manner of my death. I fear the pain it may cause others being one who abhors causing others pain.

It's not a given that as an atheist you will no longer fear death.
Me, personally, I got over my fear of death when I accepted that it is only my ego that is afraid of dying, and in fact, my ego doesn't actually exist - my ego thinks it exists, bit it is only a figment of my imagination.
Your ego isn't real. It never was. So let it die now, and then you will be free of its bullshit and its clinging to life and its need to exist forever.

I don't know whether we will end, exactly. What I felt around my stepmother's deathbed makes me wonder about dualism and whether some part of our consciousness might survive.

Death is a part of life. Everyone and everything eventually dies ...
Make the best in life, because life is short. Death, however, is forever ...

Believing in the boogy man in the sky or not, won't change how you feel about the unknown, and things beyond your control. The unknown will remain unknown, but you SHOULD have the comfort of knowing it is just you vs the world (as it always was), but now you KNOW it !!!! There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide, so just relax and enjoy the ride !!!!

I can't answer your question, but I can tell you that I'd rather face a hard truth than a comforting lie. All but the most famous of us will be at best a name in a family tree after a three or four generations. You can take comfort in the idea that some part of you will live on in either your progeny or in the influence you've had on those you've interacted with. If that doesn't help, then just live the best life you can while you're here. It's the only life you have.

The idea of my consciousness ceasing to exist terrifies me beyond my ability to express with words. Live your life as if it’s the only one you have, but treat the world and those around you like you’ll live forever.

What are you afraid of? I don't fear death because I know that no matter what, I have lived a good life. I sometimes wish I could live forever just to see how it all turns out. Then sometimes I get afraid that I will see how it all turns out in the 80 to 100 years I do get. But my death in and of itself holds no power to make me sfraid.

If you had this fear while religious -- then you're going to have it still. You must overcome your fear. There are some who recant on their death bed. How I overcame fear (and this had nothing to do with religion) is to memorize a poem: Book -- "Dune" by Frank Herbert, 'Litany Against Fear". It has always helped (though not needed in decades). It is part of our nature to fear the unknown -- it's written into our genetic makeup. Find someone to cuss / discuss your fears.

I don't know because I don't have this dread but I sort of think that if I don't have it then others can 'not have it ' ; like the fear is optional . And if you think about every other person who died were they not scared, maybe because they imagined a better beautiful life after death or were they still scared that they might not get into heaven? I suppose it takes until you decide not to worry about it because its your life that is suffering right now - and death is inevitable for all of us

Remember before you were born? It’s kinda like that.

If you think about it, fer of death is mostly fear of the unknown. Beyond that is our basic animal instinct to survive. So, you never coimpletely get over the fear of death completely, but you may experience ti differently, or jus tthink about it differently.

Death is a difficult concept. It is strange to think about being gone because being alive is all you've ever consciously known. I try to focus more on how to make the most of the precious time I have here and now.

Remember how things were before you were born? That's how it will be after you pass.

Do you remember how you felt before you were conceived? Because that's exactly how you'll feel after your demise. The year 2100 has no less to fear than the year 1900 did.

When you except that death is the end of the life cycle. We all die at some point. The best thing to do is to live life tothe fullest. I have accepted that one day I will die andit doesn't scare me, I don't look forward to it and hope it doesn't happen for a long time but I don't fear it.

You have to get it taken away by life or circumstance but can prbably find a more controlled way .. I have faced it enough times not to fear it but do respect it. I have been in situations where it was an inevitability and it didn't feel how I imagined .. everytime I have got to the point where have to accept about to die on that spot right then it's been amazingly peaceful. Not what I thought. I don't really fear it now and think it's only to be feared if you are not at peace with yourself on some fundamental level. Luckily I haven't done anything worth real guilt.

Make peace with yourself I don't think there is anything to fear.

Mark Twain said it pretty well;
"I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it."

Fear of death never really goes away no matter what you believe. But I have found a cancer diagnosis tends to force one to live more intentionally with less fear.

Everyone's afraid to die that's normal...it's being afraid of what happens afterwards is the weird thing like everyone is saying it's exactly like before you were born so really there's nothing to be afraid of

I don't fear death...but I am pissed off that I won't get to do everything, see everything, learn everything before I go. I feel cheated.

Well I've been an agnostic/atheist for around 40 yrs. Most days I want to live forever and dread the end of existance. On some (luckily)rare days it could end yesterday.. Same as it ever was..

Did you fear your existance in 1920? You shouldn't fear your existance when you are gone. It's the false/fantasy that you are imortal that has your anxiety razing it's fur. You felt nothing good nor bad in 1920 and you will likely feel the exact same way in 100 years. Your atoms will be in something else. Grass, a dolphin, a bird and baby boy and maybe all at the same time.

I will have to say that at times I share your thoughts. One thing that provided a little solace was a tv spot that Robin Williams did (ironically shortly before he committed suicide - of course it would have been difficult to be shortly after). The tag line at the end was to the effect that life (for the species) is the equivalent of a never ending story and your life is the opportunity to add a verse or chapter to the story. Personally, when I need something to focus on I think that if there is actually any purpose to our existence it is far bigger than the "mere" concept of god encompasses. Any purpose would have to be the same for the entire universe and thus I choose to think that my life is the universes way of experiencing itself. As Jackson Browne said in a song: "the only thing that survives, is the way we live our lives."